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Again, thank you Director for the nomination and to everyone for the kind words. The game itself was intense, full of moments of panic and I never felt confident I would win till a few turns from the end and I'm glad that some of that has come over in the AAR.

Anyways, time to pass this on. Now as we all know, AARland is full of brilliant AARs. I'd like to pass this on to one that is different as well. We have a long tradition of the screenshot heavy AAR, we have a long tradition of the pure narrative AAR (with no in-game images), and of course there is a multitude of AARs with a balance somewhere in between. Well the new showcase (up to the most recent post in any case) has taken the delightful method of a single in-game image surrounded by writing of real brilliance and ingenuity. All those V2 screenshots you quickly look at and then discard, are suddenly being made into compelling tales as the story of Mexico in the Nineteenth Century is gradually unfolding.

Thank you, everyone, for the kind words. And an especial thanks to loki, who has been some sort of one person fandom for my AAR. He represents the bulk of the comments in SFFG, by far.

This AAr represents some of the best writing and some of the most fun writing I have engaged in, and I am glad it seems to have acquired such a loyal following. This represents the second award this AAR has won, and honestly, to have something I have enjoyed writing this much and which is very close to my heart get this sort of recognition is very meaningful.

So, again, thank you.

I looked forward to passing on this award next Sunday.

“As both a dream and a fact the American Empire was born before the United States.” -Bernard DeVoto, The Course of Empire

"Acquisitions of territory in America, even if accomplished by force of arms, are not to be viewed in the same light as the invasions and conquests of the states of the old world." New York Morning News, 1845 CE

These kinds of choices are never easy, but it is time for me to pass the baton, as it were.

Writing a good narrative AAR is difficult: you have to, as the name implies, narrate. The sheer act of writing is, as everyone knows, a challenging thing.
This can be made even more difficult if your story is building on something truly great: the structure given to you provides a world for you to write about, but then you raise inevitable comparisons and expectations about your AAR. But there are those who rise to the comparisons.
I can think of no higher compliment than to say that HobbesMkII's AAR The Lions of the Garden is a tale worthy of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, which, as a fan of the same, I should note is meant as high praise. Go on over and check it out.

“As both a dream and a fact the American Empire was born before the United States.” -Bernard DeVoto, The Course of Empire

"Acquisitions of territory in America, even if accomplished by force of arms, are not to be viewed in the same light as the invasions and conquests of the states of the old world." New York Morning News, 1845 CE

Holy crap, thank you all, and especially Chilango2. I have the advantage of building off an established story's world and in a game which is already pretty narrative heavy, plus a mod which adds in even more on top of that. For me, it's really a matter of looking at traits and going, "Oh, so this guy is strong, deceitful, lustful beancounter--I'll just write that." Being able to tell a compelling story in a game where there's not much narrative hand-holding, that's the real challenge (and one I'm not sure I could meet), so being selected by someone who succeeds so well at that is a real honor.

I'm gonna forget if I don't post this now, so I'd like to go ahead and announce that my choice for the first (full) week in August's showcase AAR is A New Era for an Old Town: An Oldenburg AAR, written by another first-time, Rauchen. It's a wonderful AAR, conveying both narrative depth and the strategic decisions he's making in EU3 in a great mix.